Bittersweet
by SetsuntaMew
Summary: [RufusTifa] [one-shot] The day Tifa finds out about Rufus' death is not a happy one as it is for the rest of AVALANCHE. Death, suicide, all that good stuff. (No, I promise. I'm not depressed)


**Bittersweet**  
by SetsuntaMew

I wanted to write a Rufus/Tifa one-shot. Shut up and let me write. It's my own personal challenge fic – come up with a name and go from there.

Disclaimer: Me no owns FF7. -cries- The definition came from the Encarta World English Dictionary, and that belongs to Microsoft. It's built into my Word. Fwee.

* * *

_bittersweet_ (adj)  
- causing feelings of happiness and sadness at the same time

* * *

Rufus ShinRa was dead. Those were the first words Tifa heard that morning. Cloud had shaken everyone awake earlier than normal to tell them to 'good' news. But if everyone was so happy, since this meant the end of ShinRa, then why did she feel so sad?

She excused herself from the happy, celebrating group to sit on the deck ((the place with the rope ladder, ya know?)) of the Highwind, he feet dangling over the edge. They were flying over forest, fields, streams, on the way to Rocket Town. Tifa let the blurred green, blue, and golden colored image distract her from what was going on. But she realized that she would have to deal with the way she was reacting to _his_ death some time or another, so why not now?

Tifa remembered when she had first 'met' him, on the top of the ShinRa tower in Midgar. Not too long before they had headed out there, she had thought aloud, 'I wonder what sort of person he is?' And after his and Cloud's fight, she had asked first, not if Cloud was okay, but where Rufus was. She sighed, and laid backwards, now enjoying the sky rushing above her head.

'What the hell is my problem?' Tifa asked herself. She barely knew him, he was a ShinRa, and oh yeah, now he was dead. She mentally slapped herself and stood up. Trying to interpret her confusing emotions was giving her a headache.

"You know, being dead isn't so bad. It has its perks."

Tifa whirled around at the voice, which sounded similar, oh so similar, to that of Rufus ShinRa. And she gasped, finding herself staring at said person, who looked to be very much there, albeit being semi-transparent.

"One of them being that I know what you're thinking. Don't worry yourself so much; it's not worth wasting your life always worrying."

"Rufus...ShinRa?" Tifa asked tentatively, not sure if she was imagining things or not.

"The one and only," he replied with his trademark hair flip.

"I do believe you're dead," she stated.

"Did I say anything that would imply that I'm not?"

"No, but you're standing in front of me. I was under the impression that souls returned to the Lifestream when they died."

Rufus sighed. "Not until they complete what they're supposed to on the Planet. Until then, they just wander aimlessly." Tifa look sorrowfully up at him. "And don't look at me like that; I don't need pity."

"So, what do you need to do?" she asked him.

"I have no clue," he admitted.

"Then I'll help," Tifa told Rufus, reaching out to grab hold of his wrist.

"Tifa, you'll go right through me," he said, moving away from her.

"Nonsense." She was sure she had felt his fingers as he had moved away from her. She frowned at him and moved more quickly to get a hold of Rufus. And this time, she succeeded, and did not go through him.

Rufus looked at her in shock. On the streets, people would walk straight through him, and yet Tifa was now holding tightly onto his hand. So far, she was the only one who could see him. Could that mean something?

"I told you so," she said, feeling slightly self-conscious as Rufus continued to stare at her. "Um...so, any clues? You know, as to what you have to do?"

"Just that the Planet told me I had too cold of a heart."

Tifa looked at him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a crazy idea was born. "Rufus," she said, pulling him over so that she was leaning against the railing on the side and he was standing in front of her. "I think I know what you have to do."

And then Tifa pulled his lips down to hers, leaning backwards even more as she did so. Shock clearly showed in Rufus' eyes, but he got over that pretty soon. Tifa had her arms wrapped around his neck, and she continued to lean over the railing until she flipped over it completely and began falling, taking Rufus with her.

Confused, he broke the kiss as they fell. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"I thought you might be lonely," Tifa answered simply. "And I would be, too."

He shook his head at her. "I thought you liked Strife?"

"Nah. See you in the Lifestream, Rufus."

* * *

Evil laptop. It broke. And the loaner I have is dying. It went from full battery power to almost zero. Great.

And I just realized that I've killed someone in the past two (now three) one-shots I've written. And it's always suicide. I need help. Or maybe I'm only good at death fics? Strange, I like fluff and humor best. Oh well.


End file.
